#Dr Esper

[funky-demon2]

LETS GO BARBIE LETS GO PARTY 🗣🗣‼️‼️‼️‼️🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥

[leviadraws]

Happy birthday Pandora!

[arctiidaes]

i came as soon as i heard

[comospite]

MASTERP0ST 0F DR:L IC0NS I MADE F0R FUN (part 4 because the image limit is 30)

the students + the ann0uncers

(sp0ilers f0r certain sprites and als0 eves design)

i w0nt take requests f0r ic0ns 0r t0 make changes t0 these 0nes (besides s0me filtering here and there). crediting is n0t necessary if y0u use but its appreciated!

SEI K0NN0

GAEA ESPÈRE (EVE)

ZER0

[part 1] [part 2] [part 3] [part 4]

[sobredunia]

Meme q he hecho pq vuelvo al insti en una semana :")

consejo como persona que ya tiene experiencia en bachiller: en segundo es opcional, en primero (a no ser que estés en clase de deportistas de élite o similar que no convalidan) la gente es vaga de cojones y no te exigirán tanto

[salmontheking]

Psychics need their brains calibrated regularly.

Being psychic is tough. Your physiology is completely broken because humans never evolved to be what you are. Your altered nervous system requires blood content that none of your other organs like, keeping you in a perpetual state of poor health. Your continued existence is an achievment on the part of numerous doctors and nurses, all of whom earn many times what they would treating regular people. And if someone, anyone stubs their toe in your vicinity, you're gonna feel that.

Yes, hearing other people's thoughts can be kind of cool, but then you have to put in some effort so they don't hear yours too. Sometimes one can even hear other people's thoughts just by being close enough to an esper.

Levitating's nice, your shoes never get dirty, but you can't go outside radio-isolated buildings for longer than ten minutes, else the noise of every radio, TV, mobile and internet tower in range will give you a seizure. If you train hard enough you can even hear the radio.

Espers usually fall somewhere between unbelievably kind and terrifying. They're eerily polite most of the time, but can also hurt where nobody else knows to aim. They know exactly what you mean and how you feel, but then you also can't hide anything. They finish each other's sentences too. And when they talk to each other, it's weirdly mumbled and nonsensical like a person singing with headphones, because telepathy does the rest. Some don't need to talk at all, they just do it out of politeness.

Dr Ansi Holiva, head telepath physician of Arsenal Yukon, had an awful accident once and now has to wear the health cone.

[sparklecarehospital]

One thing I will ask in relation to Dr. Party is that:

With the amount of patients who are probably screaming mentally of how horrible the hospital is and how traumatized they have become because of it, is it sometimes too much for Party’s mind to handle? Or has he been accumulated to the place like Funfi that he has the mental fortitude to not let it affect him at all (for lack of a better term)? Given that he is an ESPer, he cannot get a break from hearing all those intense thoughts and feelings, not to mention those very memories themselves but it is something I am curious about.

Party is honestly just... Extremely emotionally detached from life. It's kinda the only way he can cope. Going into psychology was him trying to use his powers for the greater good, and that was already hard. I mean, people who go into therapy generally have a lot of problems, so he'd already been exposed to some pretty horrible things. This was obviously an entirely new level of horrible, but it's to the point he doesn't feel much of anything anymore. He wants to help them. That's what he does. He just can't get attached

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word

Thanks @captain-kraken here, @the-golden-comet here, @cat-esper here!

Rules: post excerpts that contain the given words

My words: trust, complain, held, red, destroy, sense, withhold, underneath, time, voice, perfect, control

Your words: fun, entertain, water, sleep

Tagging @katelynnwrites @dyrewrites @oliolioxenfreewrites @cwritesfiction @drchenquill

+ ANYONE ELSE

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy @honeybewrites @the-golden-comet

Keep reading for:

Jedi suspicious of his guide

Rose researching

Hye-Jin and Rose go to the lab

Sparring session!

Liam, Maddie, and the science of shapeshifting

X-Men

Maddie's dream

Noelle and apologizing

The dark side of telepathy

Parker's spontaneous lesson!

Carmen on Kelsey's powers

This got really long sorry.

Trust - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Jedi POV)

Still, I wasn't sure how much I could trust him. I knew Eomma was going to hold back using her powers on him, but that she also would if needed. Maybe just the threat of her powers was enough to scare him.

Complain - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Rose POV)

The art of the book was fantastic, but Damian Brown must have been really boring or something because his writing style was super dry and didn’t match the color of the book at all. However, the illustrator did help emphasize the points to make the text engaging, so I guess I couldn’t complain.

Held - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Hye-Jin POV)

We were quiet again, but the elevator doors opened to reveal the lab. “Good, you’re here,” said Dr. Asghar, while Dr. Moon said, “Did you have breakfast?” I held up my almost-apple-core. “Good,” said Dr. Moon. He gestured to the table in front of him. “Miss Song?”

Red - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Ash POV)

As predicted, Robbie was heading for Kelsey. Noelle flung out her hand, causing Robbie to trip over. The impact to the ground caused a faint dark red light to spread across his body. He shot it at Kelsey, who immediately dropped.

Destroy(ed) - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Maddie POV)

“So you’re saying matter can be created or destroyed in this dimension?” “Perhaps,” said Liam, pressing his hands together in deep thought. “But what if instead we’re borrowing mass from another pocket dimension? Like, there’s a pocket universe of just mass, and we put our mass there if we’re lessening our mass, or borrowing mass from there if we increase our mass?” “Hm,” I said. “That could work, but isn’t it complicated?” “Who knows?” said Liam.

Sense - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Gwen POV)

“What about a universe where Alii with powers are the ones who are oppressed?” I asked. “That doesn’t make sense,” Noelle said. “Why would the ones with powers be oppressed?” “X-Men,” Maddie pointed out.

Underneath - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Maddie POV)

Withhold - N/A

“Those are filthy,” I informed. Kelsey scoffed and reached under her hoodie to pull out a section of her shirt underneath, beginning to clean the lenses. “Fine, Mom,” she said in jest. “I dreamt about Brycen last night.” Kelsey blinked. “Change of subject, but okay. Why?”

Time - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Noelle POV)

She paused. “Out of curiosity, was that the first time you apologized?” “No,” I answered truthfully, as I shot the ball across the room back into its crate telekinetically. “But I honestly do find it hard to realize when I come across as rude.”

Voice - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Jedi POV)

I felt the tiniest pinprick pop a hole in Eomma’s barrier. She sealed it immediately, but I then heard the man’s voice: I know what you are.

Perfect - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Akash POV)

In a fast yet graceful move, Parker thrust his hands out and up in a swooshing movement, causing a gust of wind to suddenly lift me out of my seat and a handful of yards in the air. “What the hell?!” I shouted at the same time as Robbie. “Parker!” Wade scolded as I struggled to gain control of the air around me, but whatever Parker was doing made it difficult to push back on the molecules. “Now he’s up! And in perfect time for our lesson!”

Control - from The Secret Portal Part Two

Carmen slid her glasses back on. “That black smoke can change atomic structure, but without being able to control her powers, I cannot provide an accurate enough sample to test what is going on.”

[theatrangel]

Tamborilando os dedos no próprio braço enquanto observava uma pintura no corredor, Christine tentou fazer mais um dos exercícios de respiração que o Dr. Coelho tinha ensinado. Não adiantava nada estar ansiosa pela chegada dele. Se viesse, poderiam conversar. E se não, aquilo poderia significar várias coisas diferentes. Sabia que estava correndo um risco ao chamá-lo até lá. Nem mesmo sabia dizer se ele tinha colocado os pés em outro teatro, quem dirá em um que fosse tão parecido com o deles - ou somente dela agora. Ainda sim, se eles fossem fazer parte da vida um do outro daqui em diante - não por conta das histórias reescritas, mas porque ela desejava isso - esperava que ele pudesse pelo menos conhecer seu local de trabalho. Quem sabe conseguiria ressignificar aquele tipo de lugar em sua memória? Também não fazia ideia de como estaria seu humor. Se estava tão afetado pelas mudanças quanto ela ou se os efeitos não tinham sido tão ruins. Quando convidou @erikxphantom, acabou optando pelo caminho mais complicado, mesmo que a intenção fosse só demonstrar seu carinho: ao invés de mandar uma mensagem pelo Scroll, optara por enviar Orfeu até sua livraria. Já tinha feito aquilo algumas vezes antes para mandar recados aos amigos e depois de certo treinamento o pássaro conseguia fazer qualquer rota pelo meio da cidade sem dificuldades. Junto do bilhete escrito a mão convidando-o até a Casa da Ópera tinha mandado também o desenho de uma rosa muito pequena, já que Orfeu era pequeno e não aguentaria carregar uma rosa de verdade. Quando cansou de observar a pintura a sua frente decidiu que o esperaria mais perto da entrada. No final da semana o lugar quase não tinha movimento, e as apresentações do dia já tinham chegado ao fim. Chegando mais perto do final do corredor Christine sentiu o alívio percorrendo seu corpo quando viu a silhueta familiar. Esperou que ele olhasse em sua direção para sorrir, aliviada, e apressou os passos até diminuir os metros que os separavam. "Erik! Você veio." Não sabia exatamente o que fazer com as próprias mãos, se deveria se aproximar mais e cumprimentá-lo melhor ou se respeitava seu espaço. Tanto tempo tinha se passado e as vezes ainda se sentia como a garota encantada pelo anjo que aparecera em sua vida. "Orfeu não te assustou, não é? Mandei meu passarinho até você. Queria que ele te conhecesse antes de te convidar para me visitar. Ele costuma piar muito quando vê estranhos." Mesmo que não soubesse qual seria o resultado daquele encontro Christine estava torcendo para que fosse bom. Estava até planejando outra visita dele, agora em sua casa. "Eu fiz chá e café para nós dois no meu escritório. Como você não demorou ainda deve estar quente." Começou a andar em direção ao lugar indicado, esperando que ele alcançasse seu ritmo para enfim se aproximar e pegar sua mão.

[liamfo]

dr party is totally objectum Okay. He gets too tired of hearing people's thoughts all day and gets cozy with Like a computer or something. Ok. Or bonus points if espers can hear like Computer thoughts. Posic or whateva.. Oh my god. He's totally posic

[runicmagitek]

Ignite Your Heart and Light the Path Unknown (Ashe & Ultima - Final Fantasy XII)

( I had the utmost pleasure to write this for @ffladieszine bc who can say no to badass ladies defying fate together? LEFTOVER SALES ARE GOING ON NOW TOO CHECK OUT THE LINK BELOW!! )

For all the trials and tribulations Ashe had endured, little prepared her for Giruvegan’s crystal maze. She and her allies walked in circles after encountering the Occuria and receiving the Treaty-Blade. Unless they stumbled upon Dr. Cid, Ashe feared they wasted precious time.

Instead, they discovered another threat.

“An Esper?!” Penelo shouted.

“What’s it doing up here?” Vaan asked.

“Best to save questions for later.” Balthier readied his firearm. “I doubt she’s in the mood to chat.”

She descended upon them—golden and gigantic. Six wings unfurled. Gears churned in the mechanism grafted to her feet. She sighed, lost between boredom and indignation, then opened her eyes.

The Esper was one of many they encountered on their journey. Even so, the confrontation gave Ashe pause. She recognized that gaze; it resembled her own whenever she regarded a mirror.

This is no reflection, Ashe reasoned amidst the battle. I cannot admit weakness now. I shall be victorious, no matter who blocks my path!

That resolve earned them another victory. Her allies rejoiced, their cheers booming in the crystal’s apex.

Then they vanished as the vicinity blurred, akin to a dream.

Ashe gasped. She wasn’t alone. 

[read more on AO3]

🛒 leftovers shop!

[funky-demon2]

Alien/demon yuri let’s go baby’s

[there flirting dw]

[smilingroadkill]

I love the fact that people keep treating Dr. Party's face like its a mystery as if scrap, a fellow ESPer, hasnt been shown without his mask multiple times, meaning we have a basic idea of what party looks like under the mask

[smallnico]

If no-one has asked them yet, 6 and 10 for the Durgetash asks?

hey op!! thanks for the ask, and for the ask game! it's a good one :>

6. Describe their dynamic in one sentence. Without using toxic.

one sentence? i fucking love this question, it's fantastic, but i need you to know that you're killing my hyperverbal ass lmao. if i had to pick a description:

the dynamic between esper and gortash is whatever billion-year homoerotic slow-burn mutually-assured destruction-style yearning exists between two black holes in a binary system, unable to collide until one of them diminishes, at which point either the more massive one consumes the other and sends a shockwave through the universe, or it yeets the smaller one into the unplumbed edges of creation forever and the two never see each other again.

it's a long sentence, but it is a single sentence :>

tl;dr, they're both pulled together and kept apart by physics. if they touch, they explode, but they can't escape the pull either.

10. Did the tyrant ever try to impress the serial killing godling and exact how horrible did it end for him? What sorta things did he do solely for 'the sake of cooperation' with glaringly obvious ulterior motives?

answered here!

[regarding-stories]

Inertia Itself: The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya

TL; DR: I'm gonna bash the series somewhat. (Sorry, folks.)

After it coming with a lot of praise and kept being recommended, the series itself didn't end up being what I expected, especially given the omission in Crunchyroll's synopsis blurb. I still watched it, and all the fan praise is... a bit over the top. (I'd say the movie deserves it, though.) Depending on your tastes and sensitivities, this can be a decent or good series. It has flaws - but it definitely is not just more of the same when compared to others.

This first part of the series aired in 2006, so you can expect spoilers.

The Setup

Initially we learn about a rather peculiar teenager named Haruhi who makes her entrance to high school by stating she's not interested in anyone who isn't an alien, a time traveler, or someone with PSI powers (also called ESPer after "extra-sensory perception").

Our actual protagonist-narrator, a regular guy we will soon know only by his nickname "Kyon," takes an interest in her and eventually befriends her. Little does he know that by doing so he unleashes a series of events that leads to Haruhi forming a club that does her bidding which she dubs the "SOS Brigade" which will look into the phenomena she's interested in.

The catch in the setup is that Haruhi is a being with god-like powers that is not aware of them. She can alter reality, but this happens unconsciously. It plays out mostly like a genie's wish: Whatever she wishes for has quite a bit of self-sabotage baked in. This is not apparent to her at all, and to some, I guess, the source of show's humor.

This leads to the following cast:

Haruhi Suzumiya: The universe centers around her, and she has the personality to match. She bosses others around to the point of bullying, becomes pouty and stubborn like a five-year-old when she doesn't get her way, and is often quite unreasonable. She's also a big tsundere which has a hidden crush on Kyon which she'd never admit, so she instead she treats him like a doormat. Her inner life is never revealed to us, except when others comment on how regular reality is after all, hinting that Haruhi's eccentricity is mostly on the surface. Beyond being a tsundere she's also a genki girl, being very lively, animated, and has endless motivation and stamina when it comes to put her plans to fruition. She's also kind to kids if not her friends.

Kyon: The everyman. Kyon is cynic and sarcastic, but almost never opposes Haruhi openly, instead playing an inner voice narrator commenting on everything. Most of the time he's a passive character, resenting being pushed around, but if put on the spot, he'd be forced to admit that he would never truly opt out. The show never makes it clear whether Kyon has some romantic attraction to Haruhi, even though at least Koizumi comments about it regularly. If he has, he's so put off by her antics that it never gets to surface throughout the run of the series.

Yuki Nagato: The resident alien, sent out by a near-omnipotent AI-like entity. As such, she's basically a robot, can conjure nano-machines, and whisper formulas that alter reality. Yuki is a "cold" character with no emotional response, and her supposed motivation is "to be an observer" because Haruhi seems to be an original factor that actually originates new things (which also suggests the universe would be kinda boring without her). Yuki is also the story's source of magic solutions to problems Haruhi causes and can be relied on to provide exposition when needed. And... she was recruited to the brigade to get Haruhi the former literature club's room.

Mikuru Asahina: A time traveler, and recruited to the brigade mostly to have a hot member. Investigates why no past exists before Haruhi entered middle school, but frankly, she really does nothing of her own through almost the entire series. Haruhi does whatever she wants to Mikuru, including dressing her in various embarrassing ways as the brigade's mascot, and in general Mikuru mostly sobs and goes along. Kyon also has a crush on her.

Itsuki Koizumi: This one is the PSI guy. He cannot do anything, however, except when a particular sort of crisis ensues: Apparently Haruhi's mood swings create destructive "closed spaces" in which giants start to destroy the world. The organization Koizumi is part of fears that if they are left to grow this would destroy the world, so he is the one pushing the most for keeping Haruhi in the dark about her own effect on the world and her powers, reiterating many times how he likes the world as is. Koizumi gets roped into the brigade because he's an exchange student and there must be something up with that, according to Haruhi, which she promptly forgets afterward. Koizumi's personality is rather manipulative and he can't drop it, and I can readily understand why Kyon is not especially keen on him.

But that's just the cast and their motivations, if any. What really matters is...

The Dynamic

What keeps the show going are the manifestations of Haruhi's powers based on her conscious and unconscious desires and the pushback from the other brigade members to keep those in check and preserve reality.

The roles in this are clear:

Koizumi will provide the rationale and some of the exposition, always arguing for preserving the status quo. (And also manipulate others.)

Mikuru will be comic relief and part of Kyon's motivation to get involved.

Nagato will provide solutions when the group cannot solve problems with regular means. She'll also at times provide information dumps, but mostly say very little.

Kyon will provide a reaction to it all, his narration provides an ironic take on the events, but his involvement will be crucial in driving the plot - where there is a non-magical solution, it will fall on Kyon to derive it and put it in place.

What I personally dislike about the show is this dynamic because it's focused on keeping things in place and preventing change. This is embodied especially in Koizumi, whose manipulations often leave a bitter aftertaste (and then he laughes them off).

But it's also present in Kyon's character. He will disagree internally with Haruhi but go along like a doormat. This then builds until a resolution of sorts or until one of the few instances where Kyon actually loses his shit after things have gone way too far and he's complicit in it for doing nothing and saying nothing. Most of Kyon's interactions with the world are internally, and whenever he's called to action, he often acts very late and when it's clear that nothing else will do.

Taken from another but similar angle, a lot of the story is about denying Haruhi satisfaction, and watching Kyon being basically an unhappy character who cannot enjoy things for what they are by constantly judging people around him. At least Haruhi tries to do things. Koizumi especially wants to prevent things, and Kyon mostly lacks impulses of his own.

Without Haruhi, Kyon would have fewer friends and lead a boring, ordinary life. With Haruhi, Kyon gripes about the hassle of having more than an ordinary life. What is his aspiration in life? Would he ever do anything?

Endless Eight

There's a special punishment hidden in this show, its absolute low point. A series of episodes titled "Endless Eight I - VIII". It reminds me of a quote by Douglas Adams: It is by eating sandwiches in pubs on Saturday lunchtimes that the British seek to atone for whatever their national sins have been. They're not altogether clear what those sins are, and don't want to know either. Sins are not the sort of things one wants to know about. But whatever their sins are they are amply atoned for by the sandwiches they make themselves eat. If there is anything worse than the sandwiches, it is the sausages which sit next to them. [...] The sausages are for the ones who know what their sins are and wish to atone for something specific.

(From "So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish".)

Leaving aside that the British should know what their national sins are, this encapsulates how I feel about having watched these eight episodes. It must have been some sort of atonement. Because they suck worse than the sausages.

"Endless Eight" itself is your garden variety time loop triggered by Haruhi's unconscious wish to have a never-ending summer break that she enjoys to her fullest. So they end up going through Haruhi's list of summer activities, only they end up doing it over and over again. The show suggests that the they do this more than 16,000 times and well over 300 years in total (repeating the same two weeks of August).

The characters react to this situation according to their dynamic:

Nagato actually knows but as an observer, she does nothing.

Mikuru notices the absence of a future beyond the end of August, but only falls apart, triggering a higher level of involvement by Kyon.

Koizumi drops exposition but does nothing to change the situation itself, except dragging Kyon into it and suggesting that if Kyon simply played the part of Haruhi's boyfriend, the situation would resolve (= he manipulates him).

Kyon does nothing with the information given to him and hesitates except for the one time he breaks the loop.

Frankly, seeing the group being dragged through this summer break makes me sorry for Haruhi for a change. She strives hard to make a fun summer in her bossy way, and everybody else looks like they've been run ragged. What would the summer have been like without her? Kyon on his couch, watching boring baseball games?

Endless Eight, ignoring the execution for now, itself exposes some depth in regards how it sees the situation. It plays with the concept of lucidity and a certain kind of probabilistic determinism. The characters will react to similar stimuli within a given range of variation, meaning the situation repeats almost entirely the same in the end. The only thing that can break such a situation is lucidity, and this lucidity is highlighted by slow motion moments in Kyon's awareness. In all other moments, everybody is sleepwalking through the same motions of their lives.

This view of human consciousness may be, depending how you see it, somewhat realistic and/or depressing, but there's nothing wrong with it - and it's one of the most compelling points the show puts forward in its run. However, the how is... horrible.

You see, the show repeats the same episode eight times with no real variation in plot - except for episode I and VIII. (Because August is the 8th month and an 8 laid flat is infinite and... pure lack of imagination.) Given the length of an anime episode this means you sit through about 160 minutes of repetition. The show does no montage of the events, it repeats the same key bits out. It basically makes you live, yourself, through part of the time loop in probably the least imaginative way - or at least the least narratively artful.

Now, while the story is roughly told identically beat by beat eight times, it is animated differently eight times. Camera perspectives change, meaning they each had to be animated individually. Same for the voice acting, lots of minor variation. (So they all did their job, I guess.) The eight realities subtly differ - what clothes everybody wears. Unimportant choices they make. Like what popsicle to get or what mask to buy on a Bon festival. Many people in the comments expressed their appreciation of the love of detail.

There's something wrong with these people. What they're saying is that they don't mind being served up the same story eight times if only the trappings change slightly. I guess this got us Episode VII of Star Wars...

To spoil it further: This run of episodes is a trap. There are no real hints to the resolution. You start seeing patterns where there are none. I even thought for a short while that the iterations might be counting backwards. They are not. And while this might get you to ask some questions, it's a really horrible, in-your-face, unskilled way of doing so. And in that it's the low point of the show.

The resolution is to make summer end by doing homework together. Does this somehow imprint the end of summer on Haruhi's brain? Does this mean she gets to spend more time with her friends on their instigation? Does it mean she was secretly hiding she didn't do her homework after all?

Whatever. The lame ending would have been excusable if they hadn't set the bar so high by walking us through an overlong movie version of this. This is the kind of stuff people walk out of a cinema for.

What makes up for it

Now, the way I describe Haruhi and Koizumi suggests I don't like them very much, but especially in case of Haruhi that's not true - not to the extent it might seem. She has definite character flaws, and they're probably quite intentional - but Haruhi, unlike other characters (looking at you, Koizumi) gets things going. And her inner motivation is relatable. Have we not all looked at the world at some point and thought "What if this place was less mundane and boring?" If not - why watch anime?

Nothing makes this more clear than the follow-up movie "The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya"!

This movie does its characters and premise more justice than the series did. Kyon ends up in an alternate reality/timeline where Haruhi isn't in his class, there's no SOS Brigade, and his friends are not his friends. And he doesn't like it one bit!

In a late twist reminiscent of Data from "Star Trek: TNG" we see a reality where Yuki Nagato is not a near-ominiscient robot, but a shy and adorable girl. Kyon fights to get his reality back. Mikuru, even though it's her future self, actually does something effective. Koizumi still is dragging things down, but can be tolerated. And Haruhi isn't actually gone after all.

The story has heart, and it contains some cruel choices. It lets us also sit through some parallel world "nobody shares my memory" shenanigans, but not for so long that you inwardly opt out. It's well-paced, and it's focused on moving things forward - even if forward means "back to the future." But I can't help but feel that Kyon has changed inwardly in response, realizing at long last that what a world without Haruhi actually means.

And that's just brilliant. It has a bit of heartbreak, it has tension and suspense, it has making choices. By taking the dynamic of the original and inverting it in parts, I actually like it a lot. (I still doubt I would rewatch the series, though.)

To be fair, the anime makers may have drawn out the original material - a lot. The movie is essentially one volume of the series, and that works. But the original 24 episode series (plus bonus material) just encompasses 3 and a half volumes, and that seems awfully little. (The manga adaptation apparently sliced the salami quite differently.)

Anyway, you might find something for yourself in this series. It has had a certain staying power and a fanbase, and not many shows would manage to still be talked about ten years after their reissue. The art is... nothing to write home about, but the premise is unique enough to be worth your time once.

Just skip Endless Eight II to VII... Unless you have a yukata/swimsuit fetish.

[esper-union-lounge]

Dislyte's Character Design Director, Ono Dizi: To Design a Well Recieved Character (2.2/3)

Original post:

A continuation of the character design process. Last time, we left off on the second step: How to build a character. Due to the length of the post, I had to cut the last step :Characterisation, out.

So, this part won't be a long read. There are more pictures in this one, due to the pic limit, I will be adding ones that are necessary for the text.

Part 2.1 here

((Note: I am not a professional translator.I will localise the essay a bit more in the future. ))

Characterisation

Secondary traits

Realistic reference

Secondary Traits- Traits to be seen in character’s behaviour.

In character writing, there are two types of traits, Primary trait and Secondary trait.

The general rule of law is: If a character’s Primary Trait (Prim.) is positive, the Secondary Trait (Sec.) must be the opposite. Vice versa. In the context of in-game characters, it boils down to maintaining the ratio between Prim. and Sec.

7:3 is the golden ratio; numbers can be scaled up or down depending on the character. It is best to keep the ratio imbalanced. This is to prevent the characterisation getting muddled and unclear.

This ‘Ratio Method’ has always been a tactic for writers like Marvel, in their characters. A few example of their writing model includes:

Iron Man = “Technological Genius” (Prim.) + “A Play Boy” (Sec.) Personality Ratio: 6 (Prim.) : 4 (Sec.)

Dr Strange= “Highly Skilled Super PhD.” (Prim.) + “Prideful & Sharp tongued”(Sec.) Personality Ratio: 7(Prim.) : 3 (Sec.)

Ancient One= “Humble & Courteous” (Prim.) + “Dark Powers” (Sec.) Personality Ratio: 8 (Prim.) : 2 (Sec.)

Thanos= “Merciless & Lusting for power” (Prim.) + “Undying Fatherly Love” (Sec.) Personality Ratio: 9 (Prim.) + 1 (Sec.)

Examples from Dislyte:

In Dislyte, the character Melanie is blessed by Medusa. According to Medusa’s myth, her appearance was of a monstrous female with a head full of snakes. Anyone who looks into her eyes will be petrified into stone.

In her myth, Medusa was beheaded by Perseus with the help of Athena and Hermes. Medusa’s head was served to Athena, and was inlaid onto her shield since.

Considering Melanie’s character, *I thought about Medusa’s life story. The moment it was turned upside down when she, a young gentle maiden, was turned into an strange, and an *omen of a monster.

Taking that exact moment of Medusa’s life; having her life changed so drastically, we have a character who retains a young maiden’s innocence, while also having mental breakdowns.

Thus, taking such mental state/ characterisation, and reflect it in Melanie’s character.

There are a lot of Espers who uses this ‘Ratio method’.

Triki’s design was set to be a Gambler (Prim.) as the Core Feeling in his brief. Yet, in his Expression sheet, we did not focus on his Prim., but focusing on the “Influential Street Hipster” as his Sec.

“Flamboyant Gambler” + “Street Hipster”= Triki (Loki)

Triki’s Personality Ratio: 9:1

Lin Xiao, her Core Feeling is: “Chinese martial boxer who, is also a reinforcer of justice.”

Whenever Lin Xiao performs Chinese boxing, she becomes highly focus on her craft. Being absolute and intricate in her form and movements, it clashes with her impatience and brashness in everyday life.

“Strong & Reliable martial artist” + “Impatient & Brash” = Lin Xiao (White Tiger)

Lin Xiao’s Personality Ratio: 6:4

Ashley, according to Norse mythology, Heimdall is the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge. Legend says he has golden teeth, and pure white skin. Hence, he is dubbed as the ‘White Aesir’; with keen senses.

For Ashley’s Sec., we decided to give her a more feminine touch, and a girlish heart. In contrast to her Prim, which is her cold and stern exterior, and unwavering sense of justice.

“Strict & Aloof” + “Gently girlish” = Ashley (Heimdall)

Ashley’s Personality Ratio: 8:2

And, many more…

Realistic Reference- Making solid characters

To writing a believable character, we must have extensive knowledge of the character’s background.

Character lore alone is not enough to solidify our characters. The believability lies within references from the real world. From, works of art, or in real life people.

An approach we took was to collect inspiration and references based on the characters’ drawn design, and look into the reference’s history and background. Be it from literature, movies, animation, or liberal studies, these sources reflects humanity and its raw sets of personalities.

An example:

Prim: Strong and tough, scary looking fellow.

Sec: Cute. Into cooking and nutrition.

For the character, Djoser, we referenced from Ma Dong-Seok.

According to Ancient Egyptian mythology, Atum was originally the sun god in the Heliopolis cult. In later times, when the worship of Ra became prominent, it subsequently replaced Atum’s original role, even merging the two gods to create a new god, Amun-Ra.

In Dislyte, the characters, Narmer and Djoser are in different syndicate camps. The Core Feeling for Narmer was along the lines of, “A young and refined Godfather.” While the latter is more aligned in the direction of Latin American Narcos.

We gave Djoser the characterisation of Ma Dong-Seok, scary-looking yet, delicate, because we don’t want to solely focus on the anger and resentment aspect of Atum’s lore. But, to show an optimistic side of the character as well.

Thus offering a contrast between Ra and Atum in the game.

Narmer’s character image.

Djoser’s character image.

We can propose samples of characterisation, and discuss them with our Copy Writers to see which real-life references are the closest to the proposed sample. Be it by matching life-experiences, or similar relationships.

It is important to note, for a game that has many characters, not all of them needs to have a detailed and complex characterisation. The level of depth is determined by resources, character rarity, and the role they play. Sometimes, less is more.

All and all, when designing a character:

Step 1.) Establish the Core Feeling for the character based on the setting.

Step 2.) Design the character; convey who, where, and what

Step 3.) Characterisation. Design a Secondary Trait and take reference from real life sources.

Step 4.) Through basic drawing skills and design experience, mass experimenting and producing character image until the design is satisfactory.

(To be continued…)

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Translator’s note:

“I thought about Medusa’s life…” : Ono Dizi is responsible for designing Melanie.

“Omen” : The original word in the text means to describe something along the lines of ‘a bad mark/ symbol’. But, for lack of a better word, I used “omen” to suggest that the image of Medusa is a bad sign.

This part of the essay has to be the most I have did research into. There are a number of terms that I need to google them up to see what they are.

The concept of Primary and Secondary traits are hard to translate too. The original essay wasn’t very clear in explaining the concept. It took me a while to figure it out, and then interpret it into English. If anyone doesn’t understand, feel free to ask.

-Esper Union Lounge